Men Lose Second Straight Game at #12 Oklahoma CIty

OKLAHOMA CITY, OK (January 29, 2005) - The John Brown University Golden Eagles dropped their second straight game Saturday, losing 80-61 at the #12 ranked Oklahoma City University Stars. The loss drops the Golden Eagles to 13-7 overall and 4-5 through the first half of the SAC season.

The Golden Eagles came out flat on offensive, leading the game for a grand total of 1:24. The Stars took a 6-4 lead with 15:50 remaining in the first half, and never gave it back. For the second straight game the Golden Eagles could not muster thirty points in the opening half. The Golden Eagles only scored 22 points in the 1st half and found themselves in a 30-22 hole at the break.

The Golden Eagles were able to hang around the 10 point deficit for the first 11 minutes of the 2nd half, but found themselves down by 20 with just under 5 minutes to play. In the final 4:40 the Golden Eagles never got closer then 11 points.

JBU shot 39% from the field for the game, as did the Stars, however OCU had 14 more free-throw attempts, and 5 more field goal attempts. The Stars shot 26-34 from the free throw line accounting for 12 of the 19-point deficit.

“This group of guys, this team, is not winning games like they have in the past,” said coach John Sheehy after the game. “They just aren’t responding to difficult situations like they have in the past. We haven’t had the offensive consistency we need, it’s our job as coaches to fix that.”

Brandon Cole led all scorers with 25 points, 21 of which came in the 2nd half. Senior forward Reyjavick De Gracia had 14 points and 9 rebounds for the Golden Eagles.

The Stars had four players in double figures, including Trevor Meier who led the team with 17, and Herman Burge who had 15 for OCU.

The Golden Eagles host the Wayland Baptist University Pioneers in the Murray Sells Gymnasium on Thursday night at 8 p.m.